Westpac sped up mortgage lending three-fold in March half year

Westpac New Zealand sped up its pace of mortgage lending in the six months ended March, adding $1.51 billion in net new mortgages after growth of only a third of that in the previous six months ended September.

The mortgage book stood at $68.98 billion at March 31, according to the loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR) table in Westpac’s latest disclosure statement, up from $67.47 billion at Sept 30 and $66.97 billion at March 31 last year.

Westpac NZ chief executive Catherine McGrath noted that her bank is the smallest of the big four Australian-owned banks.

“We’re not satisfied with that position and we are competing hard to grow,” McGrath said.